What else is on the list. I really hate how barca is so secretive about who they buy, who they trade. Their official website never has the info until the last minute, fifa doenst even seem to know haha. Totalbarca seems to know a little bit but even that may be a little stretched due to the fact its not the official barca page, it seems most of them are rumors

What do rossi, neymar and sanchez all have in common? They're all short! Instead of spending 30+ mil for a bench warmer or a super sub, i'd much rather see it go into getting some size up front.... Someone like llorente or hulk or a drogba type player.... Personally I think hulk stands out the most.... He may not be as tall as llorente but he's definitely more agile, versatile and is faster than llorente. Hell fit in better with our fast pace, ball controlling game AND he's a goal scoring machine!

I'd much rather see this money go to hulk than cesc, for me, our midfield is perfect, thiago has proved that he can come in as a sub and make and impact or replace someone in case of injuries. Buying cesc and forcing iniesta to play winger won't really add anything to our midfield and doesn't change that much in our attack either....

A front 3 like villa-hulk-messi to seems unmatchable! Sure villa hasnt been exceptional on the wing this season but he has shown signs of improvement on the wing. Ex. Our last game vs rm. For me trying to get hulk seems like a no brainer but I have a feeling barca are gonna' go and get cesc anyway....

Hulk and every other Porto player are heavily overpriced. There is nothing wrong with having short players.

Messi is short after all. Would you rather have Drogba than him? Xavi? Iniesta? Pedro? Puyol? We have the shortest team in Europe (fact) yet we are the highest scoring team by far as well?

The team is built around speed and fast forwards. This is why Zlatan failed, why Henry is gone, why Gudjohnsen moved into the midfield.

What do Rossi, Neymar and Sanchez have in common? They are all lightning fast and great with their feet. They all have a great footballing brain. And when talking about Rossi and Sanchez they have a personality which will fit into the squad. And well, they can score and create goals.

Perfectly put TBS, thank you very much. I've been trying to make this point to everyone here for the past 2 months and no one listens. Getting a tower up front, even if they are unbelievable at what they do (Zlatan) will be repeating disaster. Our game does not involve tall strikers. This is Barca's style and personality and if you don't like it maybe you need to look at other clubs for satisfaction. Barca plays on the ground and we are the best at it. We are lightening fast and that "Football Brain" that TBS mentioned is the most important quality for a Barca player.

If we want to add an aerial dimention to our game, we can always push up Pique as a striker. This has always worked for us this season. We can practice pushing up our defenders on corners to get goals on corners. Answer is not changing the system, we need to fine tune our approach. We have this GEM that no one else has and that's our ground play. This is worth billions and has won us three la liga's and 2 (possibly) Champion Leagues in 3 years! It's as successful as anything can be. Why should we distrupt the flow of this system for a possibilty of a be plan which may not work (infact it didn't with Zlatan, WHO ARE WE going TO GET better than zlatan?).

If we want aerial threat, we can always get it by buying a defender like Matt Hummels or David Luiz (just saying). On corners we push them up and have our fast midfield cover their back. If game is not going the way we want to we can push them up and leave the full backs to defend.

Drogba is a striker, comparing him to messi, xavi, iniesta, puyol and pedro doesn't rlly make sense.... None of them are strikers! Messi has played in the central posiition but messi usually plays everywhere and never rlly plays in a strikers position

And I never suggested to sell our short players and invest in tall ones.... I was simply saying that if were going to invest a lot of many in a player it might as well go towards a player that will add something to our team that we already don't have! Buying cesc doesn't add anything we don't already have....

And how can you say Zlatan failed at barca? He rarely played towards the end of the season and still has the same goals as villa! The problem with ibra was his ego but that's a completely different story.

Back to the hulk thing, you make it seem like he's this tall lanky player who has no pace or dribbling skills. He's not peter crouch! He's only 6 ft tall and he can play on the ground just as well as most other players. In my opinion, hed be a great addition to us because he can play with the ball on the floor and in the air. He's obviously not as good on the ground as messi but hell be the biggest aerial threat we have and having someone whos an aerial threat will draw some defenders to constantly double mark him providing messi with some more room to work with.

How can you see putting pique as a striker being the solution? Sure he's tall but c'mon lets get real he's a defender! Pique and Busquets have been in the penalty box for every corner this season and how many goals have they headed in from there? I can't even remember any....

And if you think ibra and hulk would disrupt the flow of our game surely you don't think pique or hummels could effectively play forward without disrupting the flow of the game

Ibra is a failure because he didn't fit into the squad. He couldn't keep up with the pace and couldn't get to the end of through balls. He was lazy on the offense and wouldn't press the players and would never be caught running back to help defend.

I am not comparing Drogba to the players, I am saying that we never had height to begin with so I don't see why we should suddenly look for someone with height after Ibrahimovic had already failed in his role.

Our style doesn't rely on crossing or set pieces so the height won't change much. What I am trying to say is that the team will lose effectiveness if we decide that height is more important than speed.

On Hulk, he is a great player but as I said before. He is a Porto player and Porto players are always over-priced. I think he would be a great buy because he can play in any of the top 3. If his price tag drops to under the 30million tag that would be great but right now I don't think Porto will accept anything less that 40 - 45 million and that is why he is still at Porto

It's funny how you intenationally chose to ignore the most important points in my post and took out pieces to argue with. I said that Barca's style is what we're known for and it's our character. Playing low on the ground and lightening speed is Barca's "Thing" and we're going to keep doing it until the end of time. We have never compromised this style no matter what situation we've been to and you are suggesting we do. If you don't like the most important and pivotal thing about FC Barcelona then maybe you're not a fan of FC Barcelona.

I never said use Pique and Hummels as strikers! I said if we are looking for a plan be why don't we start working on pushing them up ON corner kicks so we can get some goals out of our set pieces. On average we have around 15-20 set pieces a game and we play almost every one of them short. There is no need for that. If we have Hummels, he will definitely give us that dimension on the set pieces. Push up Pique, Hummels, Abidal and Busquets on the set pieces and we'll have plenty of options to score. Practice this properly and we will get pretty good at it. We will have average a goal a game from set pieces (because we get so many of them).

Oh and also one more thing that you might not have noticed so far: hulkkkkkkkkkk issssssss aaaaaaa wingerrrrrrrrrrrr!! DOH! Lolz you just opposed your main point by suggesting Hulk as a striker. Porto's striker is Falcao my friend. I just can't take someone's suggestions seriously when they don't even know what they're talking about. If you would have suggested Llorente then you'd have some credibility. I don't think all year I've seen Hulk score a header and I follow Porto's games pretty much every week. He will definitely not add any aerial threat to our game, that's for sure. He would be a great winger for us though but he is going to be way too expensive, specially with Fifa's FFP rules coming in on June 1st. We'll be left with no money to even buy a CB.

Anyways, why don't we let the panel of experts who get paid million decide who our next players are going to be and we stick to our support and love for the club! There is no reason to get heated up over something that we have no control over. Peace

We need someone with a little height.... Not completely necessary though. Our best header besides puyol is probably Keita. Even if we get a relatively cheap striker to come off the bench I think it would be a good idea. As much as I didn't like Ibra he did add a little bit of a dimension to the game with his height. We can use that once in a while instead of having Pique move forward all the time

@ TBS I think your missing my point here. What I'm trying to say is that if were gonna' invest in a forward this summer, it might as well be someone thatll add something we don't already have. And we have plenty of small, young wingers with pace with pedro, bojan, affelay and even messi. Personally, I think it would be smarter to get someone with size and pace that could help on set pieces and provide an option for a cross from a wide position. Whether or not hulk could be that person is uncertain and 40-45 mil for him is WAY too much but I still think that we should continue to look for someone with size and pace that could fit into our team. A torres or drogba type of player.

@ WC pushing pique or hummels up on set pieces may not be such a sure thing as you think it is. As I said before Pique and Busquets are usually in the box for corner and they hardly ever end up in the back of the net. Not to mention that if lets say we get hummels and hummels, pique, and busquets go in for the corner, who will be back to defend in case of a counter attack? Alves, abidal and iniesta or messi? You have acknowledge the defensive risk your taking but pushing both CB up because the ball could be headed out easily and there could be a goal scoring opportunity the other way. A realistic compromise would be to to put one CB and the CDM or just both CB. That is why it would be wiser to get a forward that could be an aerial threat. That way the defenders will be closely marking the 3 taller players who could all score and also potentially leave someone else unmarked.

And does it really matter that hulk is a winger now? Players change position all the time. Especially during one of our games! Our 3 forwards are constantly switching positions during a game. Messi is a winger and has played in a central role many times so why can't hulk? Villa was a striker last year and now he plays on the wing! There is no reason to believe that hulk cannot be just as effective as a striker than he is as a winger! He's tall, he's fast, he can dribble and he can finish.

And as for the money issue, barca prob have a lot more money than you think. With the 25 mil from the Qatar foundation, another 25-30 from ibra, well be atleast 50 mllion dollars richer by september.... And that's not calculating all the money made from tickets, and merchandise. The money is there, whether or not Rosell wants to invest it in a player is up to him

The money really isn't there since the club is in debt and needs to balance the books with financial fairplay(FFP) kicking in at the end of this season.

I understand how you think height would add to our game, but adding height to our game and throwing in crosses instead of building up like we usually do would take away from our game.

Unless the forward has speed he would be useless to the team. Yes we get lots of free kicks and rarely get anything out of it but it would hurt the team more if we have a player on the field who can't keep up with the offense. If the play couldn't fit in with the speed of Barca's forwards than it would be like playing with 10 men every match

Well according to the article I just read, teams are allowed to spend up to 38.5 million more than is earned over a year. Which isn't that much of a cap for barcelona considering how much money they make off merchandise and ticket sales. Add to that the money well make from ibra, qatar and bonuses for winning la liga and champions league (if such bonuses exist) and barca have a lot of room to work with. Obviously, spending it all wouldnt be very smart considering our financial situation but we could definitely invest in a player and salvage some of that debt at the same time. How much money thas going to be used for each is up to rosell to decide since he's got a much better idea of barcas financial position than I do lol.

And yes I completely agree that we should maintain our current gamestyle but throw in a cross from time to time to shake up the defenders and keep them on their toes.

It is best not to put ourselves in a position that would put our champions league football at stake and we should really work to fulfilling the requirements and become a model club for UEFA. Rosell has already said that we will get a guaranteed 40 million to invest on players along with anything that we raise from transfers. 40 + the money we can get from Milito, Caceres, and maybe Hleb, Keirrison and Henrique should give us from 10-25 million in additional transfer funds which we should be able to use wisely. Hopefully this will set the club in good position going forward. This is especially important considering the uncertainty in the television rights deal at the moment

On the height again. Height would be good, but as I said before we cannot sacrifice speed for anything.

A forward who is suited to the 85 minutes per game which we don't have set pieces or cross the ball is more effective than a player who is only there to play the 5 minutes when we do have corners, free kicks and crossing

I honestly think $30 million is too steep for Sanchez. I'm not too sure about him. Personaly I would rather we'd spent that on getting Guissepe Rossi instead. His left foot is an assassin's weapon. He will finish every little chance that is given to him. I absolutely LOVE his style of playing.

I read in TBS's tweeter updates that Cesc is almost certain to come to Barca this summer. $51 million is what we're going to spend. If this transfer does happen I will be extremely happy. I know that you all think that there's no point in bringing Cesc back to Barca, that he is too expensive, that he is made of glass, that we will not have a place for him and blah blah blah. But I beg to differ. We can always move Iniesta to left wing and put Fabi in his place. Imagine a Fabi & Xavi in a creative roll and Iniesta with a more free role running down the left wing with Messi just dominating up front. Every attack will be deadly! (Also just want to remind you guys that this season Fabregas has created the most goal scoring chances per minute of play! His vision is the only one I dare to compare to our beloved chameleon eyes, Xavi Hernandez)

The only thing that worries me is that now are we going to have enough to spend on a defender? Matt Hummels should cost around $15mm. Hopefully we can pay that off by selling some players. We should be able to get $15mm easily out of Bojan's sad sad sad departure.

Players I would love to see in Barca at some point and I think would fit in perfectly and improve our squad:

I doubt Bojan would leave on a transfer. A loan is much more likely and there are clubs willing to loan him as well.

Hummels I doubt will cost 15m. I believe that since he renewed his contract this year his value has sky rocketed to at least 35 because I believe the 8million selling clause was terminated.

I do like the idea of Mata. He has even put his transfer talks on hold until Barca say something about his possibility of joining us.

I really do like David Silva but he would play in the midfield in an already heavy in depth midfield. Since he had a great season with Man City.... Cesc would be the cheaper option. (Yes I said that Cesc would be cheaper)

I doubt Bojan would leave on a transfer. A loan is much more likely and there are clubs willing to loan him as well.

Hummels I doubt will cost 15m. I believe that since he renewed his contract this year his value has sky rocketed to at least 35 because I believe the 8million selling clause was terminated.

I do like the idea of Mata. He has even put his transfer talks on hold until Barca say something about his possibility of joining us.

I really do like David Silva but he would play in the midfield in an already heavy in depth midfield. Since he had a great season with Man City.... Cesc would be the cheaper option. (Yes I said that Cesc would be cheaper)

While that is a pretty steep price, I love Alexis Sanchez and I'm so excited that he might be coming to Barca. His attacking style fits right in and he would be a perfect sub for Villa and Pedro when those two aren't performing (like the last 2 months). Excelente!

Honestly I would really like to hear a a very good rumor about Barcelona getting a very good defender. That would make my day. People say Barcelona is great team and more than anything I think we are amazing.

1. Pique went crazy for a few months (our hardest months) 2. Puyol was practically out for most of the season. 3. Abidal was sick 4. Maxwell injured 5. Milto injured 6. Two DM at CB

Call me crazy but we are pretty amazing to survive all of that once again after being in so may competitions especially during those months when we were goal starved. Not that we haven't done it before but I would like to see a brighter future for our backline

It has been speculated that we are in the advanced stages of signing Argentine and Lanus keeper Esteban Andrada(20) to replace the Mino and Oier who are expected to leave for greener pastures (La Liga football) this summer.

Buenos Aires press are speculating that Zubizaretta has arrived to negotiate with the press also reporting that Lanus's president has confirmed that negotiations will occur.

Barca has went as far as confirming that there is interest for Andrada.

Tried finding a video of him but only found him getting scored on Andrada has appeared for Argentina at the U20 level and caught interest during an international South American tournament in which he won goalkeeper of the tournament.

Andrada is the 3rd keeper for Lanus and has yet to make a first team debut.

He announced he's becoming a father.... His son could probably play on the same team as him when he[s older.... Could be a girl. But top notch player, i've been following him for a while the only thing is he doesn''t really fit into the barca passing style

I'll keep it simple: there in only a real need for another CB. IMO, there is no better CB in the world than Mats Hummels at this moment. I'm Belgian, and I love my fellow Belgians Kompany, Vermaelen, Vertonghen and Alderweireld, but only Kompany (and perhaps David Luiz now too) can possibly also claim that much coveted title. And buying him (City's captain :S) would require half a billion.

So my only wish is to get Hummels. He has every single thing that would be required to make a great CD here: the right attitude, amazing defensive awareness and skill, strength, aerial dominance, and pace. And if we're pushing forward, he has the same abilities Piqué has: he used to be a striker and it really tells: he's very often a real asset in attacks, spreading out great passes, making forward runs if possible and he's a real menace to defenders at set pieces.

Furthermore, this isn't just a lucky season: he was the best defender in Germany last season too, when things weren't going so well for BVB Dortmund. This guy is worth 30m for a team like ours, and I can only hope our scouts have picked up the same thing. And Hummels is just 22: 10 more years of completely reliable defending

Kompany is a great CB, he would be great on barca once puyol leaves but yes he would be extremely expensive. He's 2nd captain after tevez so maybe a little cheaper? I havent seen the way Hummel plays, but from what your saying he sounds like a good asset. I should probably look up some games by Dortmund

Ha! Had not thought about Jesus Navas and we are due to raid the coffers at Sevilla at least once a year. I like his pace and determination. Only thing that concerns any though is he is very similar to Affeley so what to do with both or do you think we will be making room by moving someone out?

With that sorta list, Barca would get closer to the spanish national team! And could get the colours of the spanish team as their second jersey! Am beginning to question the positive side of that! I mean appart from the fact that during international brakes, the root of the team is still together! Plus as BShel mentioned, I believe Navas is quite close, in terms of tactics, to Affelay! And speaking of Affelay I think he's ulterely a better option (tactically) than Navas though Navas seems better playing at the wings

Navas was brilliant in the world cup and scored a goal against us in the last Sevilla match. He is like Pedro on speed. I wouldn't mind having him one bit.

Llorente "the lion king" would be a killer striker for those matches when teams park the bus and we have no solution. Put him on as a super sub and let Navas, Iniesta, Xavi, etc feed him crosses and he will surely find the back of the net

Ever Banega he's only 22 years old, Argentine, and would be lovely he's done a lot for Valencia the past two season, could possibly replace xavi when he retires? He would be a cheaper buy than most other athletes, shows some promise if you ask me

He is a great player and would fit in brilliantly with the team. Can't believe you are the first person to have mentioned it. Problem is he is too good for a bench role and we aren't in a position to offer him a starting place in the squad

It seems like everyone has forgotten about getting a tall striker to provide us with a plan be when the goals dry up. I have said above that defenders should be the priority this season. But, it should be a short- to mid-term goal to get llorente to Barcelona. The diversity he would bring will be of great advantage.

His strength in the air will mean he can pull one or two of the tallest and strongest defenders out of the equation, leaving centimeters (rather than millimeters) for Messi, Iniesta, Villa, Pedro to operate in. And we all know what can happen when we get that much space!

I have always liked Llorente and to be honest it would make us more versatile allowing us to play against counter attacking teams with only two up top in a slightly more defensive 4-4-2 or a 4-3-2-1. I know this is contrary to Barca philosophy but would be very effective especially in the Champions league against English clubs

[account-removed]5 years ago

Having that tall guy in the box is good for any team, especially when we have to resort to the crossing game by alves. This doesn't really work for us though.

Also I would like to point out we tried getting a really talented bulky CF.... 'member how that went?

But keep in mind Che that Llorente plays on the spanish national team with half of our squad so he understands tiki taka and is also deadly in the air. I think he would fit into the Barca system and do much better than Ibra. Especially since most of Ibra's problems were his ego, not his height or skill

However, has anyone else had mixed feelings about buying star players from other Spanish clubs? I always like to see the quality of La Liga increase and hope that it will be more competitive in the future. When there is almost an assumption that great players eventually "graduate" to Barcelona or Real Madrid, it does nothing but maintain the status quo in La Liga. While, as a Barcelona fan, this is good for me, I would sometimes rather find new signings elsewhere and allow the spread of great players in La Liga, at least to the point that other Spanish clubs begin to compete more in European tournaments

That's an excellent point Werobbin and for me it just depends on what the player wants. If Llorente would rather stay at Bilbao then he should. However, if he wants to "graduate" as you say to Barca or another big team he deserves it for his efforts

I wouldn't mind Llorente, I am sure he would be a better buy than Ibra could ever be just because of his work rate compared to Ibra.

I'd be happy with Llorente but one thing about him is that he will only be able to play that central role, he wouldn't be effective when Barca mixes up the front 3 like we always do

[account-removed]5 years ago

I only see him doing well on set pieces....

Also I am biased with Latin American strikers, Europeans just aren't as good as us latins in front of goal lol. But it would help to have a giant brute up front against teams with the likes of Vidic ans such.

But that is a completely different Barca philosophy and I would rather lose every tournament then change the beautiful passing game that we have. And honestly if Llorente were to come it would be disastrous.

Its alright to be bias but come on, Europe produces equal amounts of talent. Goal scorer wise you have got Raul, Van Nistelrooy, Shevchenko, Del Pierro, Henry, Lineker, Villa, Inzaghi, Van Basten, etc. For every South American you can name a European to match

Che, until Argentina produces another Messi, I think it would be ok to settle with a little guy named Llorente - the lion master. This guy sends fear into the hearts of defenders and it's not just because of his brute force. He's got dribbling skills that Bojan should be taking notes on. And just think.... For once we'd have a player that could actually reach Adriano's crosses.... Lol

Che, until Argentina produces another Messi, I think it would be ok to settle with a little guy named Llorente - the lion master. This guy sends fear into the hearts of defenders and it's not just because of his brute force. He's got dribbling skills that Bojan should be taking notes on. And just think.... For once we'd have a player that could actually reach Adriano's crosses.... Lol

^^^there are a few di maria is young, higuain is rather young too. Argentines always show some promise. To bad our rivals have both of them haha

[account-removed]5 years ago

Sorry big shel, there is far more talent coming from South America in my opinion. Except if you want defenders you have to get those European towers. But as far as flavor on the pitch goes? There is nothing like that latin spice. Nothing

[account-removed]5 years ago

I would like to see Bale. I would like to see Pastore. I would like to see Tevez. I would like to see Alexis Sanchez. I would like to see El Mago valdivia

Sanchez is a phenomenal player that is versatile. He can play striker, attacking winger, or traditional winger for the rare times we wanna try a 4-4-2 formation. Plus he would be great at fast, free-flowing barca movement and passing. This makes me drool thinking about it...

Tevez is great, I do love him, fantastic player, great finisher, plus he never gives up, would be great I believe in barcelona but we really don't need another striker.... Messi, pedro, bojan are still young. If anything midfielders, deffenders are what we are going to need!